Event to Inaugurate Rattigan Chair

By Sean Smith
Staff Writer

The Thomas F. Rattigan Professorship of English will be officially inaugurated at a special event in Gasson 100 on Wednesday, Oct. 11, beginning at 4:30 p.m. with a lecture by the inaugural Rattigan Professor, John L. Mahoney.

Mahoney said his talk, titled "Religion and the Arts," will not be "a specialized lecture, but one covering some wide-ranging topics which in recent years have become of great interest to the Boston College community." A reception will follow, also in Gasson 100.

The Rattigan Professorship was established in 1993 with a gift from University Trustee Thomas J. Rattigan, a 1960 graduate of the College of Business Administration and former chairman and CEO of G. Heileman Brewing Co. Inc. Rattigan, who was elected to the Board of Trustees at its Sept. 15 meeting, is a member of the University's National Development Board and Wall Street Council.

Interviewed at the time the professorship was announced, Rattigan said he had "wanted to repay some debts and I wanted to repay Boston College for what it contributed to my life." He also made the gift in memory of his father, Thomas F. Rattigan, who, he added, did not have a college education but possessed a great love of the English language.

Mahoney, who joined the English Department 40 years ago, received bachelor's and master's degrees from Boston College in 1950 and 1952, respectively, and a doctorate in English from Harvard University in 1957. He earned the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education Massachusetts Professor of the Year award in 1989, and the University's Alumni Award for Excellence in 1978. Mahoney has written numerous books and articles, including a recent biography of William Wordsworth.